Attorney General Ibrahim Riffath has said that the priority should be given to the privilege of not sitting anyone with vested interests in the chair while dealing with the issue of removal of the Speaker of the Parliament.

Rifat’s comments came after the General Committee of the Parliament decided to seek the Attorney General’s advice on how to proceed with the motion to remove Speaker Mohamed Nasheed from the presidency. In a tweet last night, Rifat pointed out seven points on the issue.

Here are the highlights:

1. According to Rule 205 of the Rules of The House, the Speaker’s dismissal resolution does not follow the procedure to be followed in relation to the ‘general’ resolutions moved by the members mentioned in Articles 168,167 and 169A of the Rules of The House.

2. The only requirement for the resolution of impeachment of the Speaker of Parliament is that not less than one-fourth of the total number of Members shall state in writing, signed and presented as a matter the reason for the impeachment.

3. The Presiding Officer of the House has decided that the resolution of impeachment of the Speaker of the House cannot be carried out within the framework of the Rules of Procedure of the House, in violation of the Rules of Procedure of the House.

4. The sessions of the Parliament shall be conducted without interruption as provided in Article 82 of the Constitution and Article 44 of the Rules of Parliament.

5. The chairmanship of a sitting whose agenda is to move a resolution of impeachment of the Speaker of the House of Representatives by a member having the influence of the Speaker is contrary to the conflict of interest principle in Rule 205 (b) of the Rules of Procedure.

6. In considering a case of impeachment of the Speaker of Parliament, priority should be given to the importance of not seating members who refuse or excuse themselves from the presidency and any person with conflicts of interest.

7. As per Rule 44 of the Rules of Procedure, the Secretary-General shall appoint a person to preside over the session of the General Assembly and conduct the proceedings in the only manner contemplated by the Constitution and the Rules of Procedure of the Assembly.

MDP MP from Alifushi Constituency Mohamed Rasheed Hussain (Bige) submitted the proposal at the General Committee meeting held yesterday to seek the Attorney General’s advice on the matter. He submitted that the General Committee had the privilege to assist in the work of Parliament’s Secretory General Fathimath Niusha in the case as the current resolution to remove Speaker of the Parliament Mohamed Nasheed was carried out in violation of the rules of the Parliament, by Deputy Speaker Eva and Villufushi MP Hassan Afeef.

Speaking on the issue, Bige said that the stalled parliament over Nasheed’s no-confidence motion should end and a solution needs to be found. A majority of seven members of the committee approved the decision for seeking AG’s advice on the issue.